RESEARCH ARTICLE


Coronary Artery Calcium Scores: Current Thinking and Clinical Applications



Anil George, Assad Movahed*
Professor of Medicine and Radiology, Associate Division Chief, Director of Nuclear Cardiology, Cardiovascular Science Department, Director of Cardiovascular Imaging Center, The Brody School of Medicine, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, 600 Moye Boulevard, Greenville, NC 27834 USA


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Creative Commons License
© George and Movahed; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http: //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Professor of Medicine and Radiology, Associate Division Chief, Director of Nuclear Cardiology, Cardiovascular Sciences Department, Director of Cardiovascular Imaging Center, The Brody School of Medicine, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, 600 Moye Boulevard, Greenville, NC 27834 USA; Tel: 252-744-4651, 252-744-0774; Fax: 252-744-5884; E-mails: movaheda@ecu.edu, anilgeorge@gmail.com


Abstract

Most incident coronary disease occurs in previously asymptomatic individuals who were considered to be at a lower risk by traditional screening methods. There is a definite advantage if these individuals could be reclassified into a higher risk category, thereby impacting disease outcomes favorably. Coronary artery calcium scores have been recognized as an independent marker for adverse prognosis in coronary disease. Multiple population based studies have acknowledged the shortcomings of risk prediction models such as the Framingham risk score or the Procam score. The science behind coronary calcium is discussed briefly followed by a review of current thinking on calcium scores. An attempt has been made to summarize the appropriate indications and use of calcium scores.